Melissa Kelly-Ortega: Great Challenge Day

I was very fortunate to be a parent participant at Cruickshank Middle School's Challenge Day on Tuesday. I believe if anyone truly wants to make positive changes for our youth, they will find a way to fund this program in all the schools throughout Merced County.

It was an intense, emotional, eye-opening and transformative day for everyone.

While we learned that we need to appreciate ourselves before we can truly appreciate others, this was definitely more than a day filled with compliments. At first, many felt uncomfortable and awkward because we were being asked to "get real" and show more than the 10 percent of ourselves we consider our image.

There were times when there was not a dry eye in the room because we were asked to step across a line: "if we've ever been judged by the color of our skin;" "if we've ever been violent toward another person (physically or verbally);" "if we recently lost someone close to us due to a terminal illness."

At the end of the day, we all gained a deeper understanding of one another. The results were and are life-changing. Challenge Day is about getting to know each other at a level where we can look past what may separate us (age, financial status, gender) and "Be the Change" in our homes, schools, and communities. We were reminded that the change begins with us.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega is a Merced parent.